Two gifts for you
by secretgaaraluver
Summary: It all starts on a hot summers day in Suna, when Sakura spots Gaara crying all by his lonesome...SakuGaa fan fic
1. Solitary

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, or any characters in it. Although, I wish I did own Gaara**

**A/N: This is my first story, so don't be too harsh. I don't mind flames as long as its constructive criticism. If it's just "Your story sucks" and no "your story sucks BECAUSE…." Then I well get extremely pissed off.**

It was a beautiful summers evening, and I was walking down the street with my mother, looking for venders or shops that were selling new cloths and food. I was in the allied village of Sunakagure, visiting my cousin and aunt. Mother was holding my hand so I wouldn't wander off, so instead of wandering off to investigate stuff, I just observed my surroundings.

There was a small play-ground just in sight, there were a group of kids, who looked like they were playing some kind of ball game, yelling and laughing, all trying to get the large leather ball that was being passed to one another. The supermarket was busy with people. Some people had the eager and slightly drained expression of one who was coming home from work. Others were shopping, just like my mother, some with children at their sides, others without. Still others where in the small food booths, chatting, laughing, or discussing something in low voices and serious expressions.

The air was dry and hot. The sun beat down relentlessly on the village, grimacing evilly at the ones who bothered to look up at the sky to check for any sign of clouds that might cover the sun to relive the hot village of sunlight for even the slightest of seconds.

"Sakura, honey, why don't you go to that playground and go play with someone while Mommy talks to her old friend?" I heard Mom say softly. I looked at her with wide green eyes then replied,

"Okay." I noticed that Mom had indeed stopped to talk to one of her friends that she had known in her childhood at Suna. I smiled politely at her old friend then raced, as fast as my legs could carry my tiny body, to the playground.

When I got there, I decided I didn't want to join the rather intimidating kids that were playing ball with each other, so I just hid behind a tree and watched them. They looked like they were having masses of fun. Their faces where red and sweaty from running in the scorching sun, but despite that they were still running with all their might, kicking the ball as far away from the other players as possible, faces contorted with concentration as they shot for the goal. Then, if they missed, they would frown with disappointment and maybe utter a few words of complaint. If they scored, they would jump up and down with smug enjoyment, and smear the fact that they made a goal in the other teams face.

I smiled at my fellow kids; they were just like the kids in Konoha. I looked around to see a section covered in bark with deserted playground equipment, well almost deserted. Sitting on one of the swings, a small brown teddy bear in his unmoving hands was a boy. He had bags around his pale sea-green eyes; it looked as if he hadn't slept his whole life-which of course he hadn't. His blood-red hair was rather messy, but it didn't look uncared for. His hands were gripping the teddy bear as if it were a life line.

Without thinking I moved towards him, I didn't know why, but I wanted to comfort the solitary red-head.

He looked up as I approached and I stopped when I realized that he was crying. Crying silently so that the others wouldn't hear, crying too softly and quietly for someone to notice at first glance. And his eyes, his eyes where lonelier than an abandoned kittens. It was obvious that this boy had been rejected by all others.

My body recovered from its brief shock and I started towards him again, but then I heard the distant call of my name. My mother must be finished talking with her friend. I looked in the direction of the call, then back to the boy, then turned and ran back to my mother. I heard the boy get up and whisper in a raspy and rather unused voice "Wait… I don't want to be alone… not anymore." But despite that I kept running back to my mother. Back to my family, and my next to perfect life.


	2. May and mothers warnings

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any characters in it**

**A/N: Please R&R**

I was back at home, sitting on my cousins, whose name was May, bed. We were telling each other about our days.

"You actually _**talked**_ to him!" She gasped, her lips forming a perfect and comical "O" shape.

"No, I didn't actually talk to him…" I replied a little uncomfortably at her reaction. "Why? Is there something wrong with him?"

"Yes! He is a monster, he has the sand demon locked up inside him, and he could _kill _you if he wanted!" I flinched a little at her description of what the weeping boy was. It was hard to believe that such a forlorn little boy could kill someone.

May suddenly grabbed my head in her hands and whispered, "Sakura, promise me you won't go near him again, I don't want you getting hurt."

I was hesitant to promise such a thing, I didn't want to hurt the little boy anymore, but the seriousness of Mays voice and expression scared me.

"Okay… I promise. But before we go to bed, I wanna know the boys name," May was silent for a while then said reluctantly,

"His name is Gaara…." And with that we both sighed, turned off the lamp that was lighting up the dark room, and crawled under the flowery sheets of the warm bed, falling asleep almost instantly, but as we slept a boy with red-hair was crouched on the open window seal. He was so silent that he had been unnoticeable to my cousin as well as me.

~~~~~ Gaara's POV~~~~~~

I was squatting as quietly as possible on the green eyed girls window seal as she and her cousin talked about me. I listened noiselessly as they talked about the demon locked inside me.

The girl's cousin was just like the other villagers, her eyes widened in fear when my description was revealed to her. But the pink-haired one was different. She didn't flinch at the sound of my name, she didn't show any fear of me when I approached, or more like when she approached me.

No, this girl merely felt pity for me. Pity for the malevolent monster that was watching her turn off a lamp and squirm under the sheets for a nights rest. I hated people who pitied others, this girl wasn't like the villagers, but she was just as bad. I frowned and jumped neatly off the window seal back down to the ground, turning for my house, ready for one more night of staring at the waning moon.

~~~~~~~ Sakura's POV~~~~~~~

I woke up by my mom shaking me and whispering my name softly.

"Where is May?" I asked groggily, noticing the space beside me was deserted.

"Even though you're visiting and you get time off of ninja training, doesn't May does." She chuckled kindly. I nodded, my brain too fogged up with sleep to think of a reply. "So how was your day yesterday?" I frowned and told her about Gaara. She had the same reaction as May, a flicker a fear then telling me sharply I was to stay away from him.

I sighed, how could my mother, who was kind to EVERYONE, tell me to stay away from such a hurt boy?


	3. The exams

**A/N: I'm gonna try to make the chapters longer. Please, Read and Review.**

~~~six years later~~~

I was back at Konoha, thinking about the coming up Chuunin exams. I didn't know if I was ready to take them, but I was going to attempt them anyway. I could always try again if I needed to.

I lost track of time as I pondered endlessly on the Chuunin exams, until I saw someone standing on a small hill a little off the road I was treading. I squinted his way and saw that he had blood-red hair and black lined eyes.

I recognized him; he was a much older form of the boy I had seen so long ago on my trip to Suna. He had changed though; he had the posture of someone who held power, and a lot of it. His face was no longer lonely and sad, but set, cruel, and uncaring. The blood-lust emanating from those pitiless sea-green eyes was strong and intimidating, it was hard to believe that _this _was the weeping boy who I had seen sitting on that rusty old swing set six years ago.

But as I approached him I noticed that he had changed not only in personality, but in looks as well. His hair was a little shaggier than when he was six years old, he had more muscle, of course, but all boys get more muscled when they grow older. He was much taller, and he had a permanent grimace across his pale face. But what drew my eyes was the rose-red kanji sign for the word love on his smooth forehead. It made me curious as to when he had gotten it.

I froze as his icy eyes turned to me, I saw a flicker of recognition but he didn't walk towards me. For some reason that made me angry. I gritted my teeth and walked off the road to stand in front of him, arms folded, weight shifted to one side of my body, and nose stuck up a little in the air to see him properly.

He watched me calmly as I stood in front of him; his face didn't betray any sign of emotion but undisguised malice.

I stared at him for a long time before moving almost nose to nose with him. He didn't flinch back, but just returned my glare with ten times more force. Finally, unable to stand it I spat,

"What are you doing here? I thought you were from Suna!" I don't know what had made me say it so hatefully, but something about his stance and unspoken mockery of this world made me get pissed off. His expression didn't change as he answered coolly

"The Chuunin exams," His voice was deeper than the time I had heard him speak, but he was older, that was bound to happen. The thing about his voice that sent chills down my spine was it was raspy and callous, I could tell that he had been through a lot in his life, maybe even more than Sasuke and Naruto.

I snorted, why was I scared of him, and why was my anger rising like he had just insulted Sasuke? I didn't know what to say to his simple and reasonable explanation so I just continued to glare. He spoke suddenly, which sort of surprised me, he didn't seem like the type who would speak unless spoken to.

"Why did you come to me?"

"What do you mean?" I questioned, my anger dropping just as suddenly as it had rose.

"……" I frowned. What was with him?

"I guess because I thought I recognized you…. From a long time ago….but I guess you're not the same person. See ya, in the Chuunin exams." I don't know what had made me say I didn't know him, it had just slipped out.

Once I got home from practicing with my team, my mother asked me about my day. I told her everything about it except for the part about meeting with Gaara for the second time in my life.

"Sakura, why don't you get to sleep, you want to be well rested for the Chuunin exams tomorrow."

"Of course, Mother,"

~~~~~~~~~~ Sakura's dream~~~~~~~~~~~

I was lying on my back in a place so black I couldn't see my hand when it was centimeters in front of my face. I squinted in the direction I thought north and saw me. Me standing inches away from me, and six years old again. Then people appeared behind me, Mother, Father, May, Sasuke, Naruto, Aunts and Uncles, Grandmothers, Grandfathers, Cousins, Ino, Choji, Shikamaru, Kakashi, Shino, Kiba, Hinata, all my friends and family, and right in the center was me, glowing with radiance and happiness.

Then it changed… everyone disappeared and someone else appeared. It was Gaara; he also was six-maybe seven- years old again. He was alone, his expression the same as the first time I had saw him, but ten times lonelier. After a while he started to cry, and then he started clutching his head, gasping for breath. And suddenly a figure appeared beside him. A man (Who looked a lot like a woman) with light brown hair and a smiling face. He put his hand on Gaara's shoulder and said something that I couldn't make out. Gaara wiped away his tears and _almost _smiled, but then the man started to bleed from the mouth, he fell to his knees and then with a gasp of breath fell down to the ground and disappeared. Now Gaara started to cry and grip his head again, and now no one appeared, no one emerged out of the darkness to comfort him. He fell to his knees and sobbed until he was all out of tears.

He stood up suddenly, and as he did he changed into the older figure, the one I had seen today. He wiped away the lingering tears, said something I couldn't hear and then walked away.

I tried to call to him but it was useless. He was gone.

~~~~~~~~~End of dream~~~~~~~~~~~

"Sakura! Sakura, honey, wake up. You're going to be late, c'mon! Oh, why are you crying?" My eyes fluttered open slowly. I sat up and wiped my eyes, I _had _been crying. And I abruptly and unexpectedly burst into tears. My mom's voice was panicked when she said, "Sakura! What's wrong?" I mopped up the persistent flow of tears and choked

"M-mom…. It's j-just s-so sad!"

"Sakura, what **are** you talking about!"

"W-why do some p-people get t-treated like they d-don't belong? W-why do people a-always hurt o-other people j-just 'cause they are d-different?" My mom looked utterly bewildered as she hugged me whispering quietly for me to calm down.

Once I did calm down she murmured,

"C'mon, why don't you get ready, today is the first day of the Chuunin exams, you don't want to be late…." I took in one more shuddering breath and nodded,

"Okay, thank you, Mom…." And with that I got out of bed and opened my dresser, ready for whatever the day might throw my way.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Chuunin Exams~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1st Exam

We all managed to get through all right, but there was major mental stress. Especially for poor Naruto. Gaara was sitting about sitting in the first row; I was sitting in the second to last. I didn't mind the distance; Gaara is starting to creep me out….

2nd Exam

This one was tough, but we managed; but only because Kabuto helped us out. (What a relief)

Preliminary rounds

It was in the preliminary rounds that I decided that I really _loath _Gaara. He really is a mirthless bastard; I don't know how I could ever feel sorry for him. He is such a…. a…..a….. I don't know, he is just…. Just….. _Creepy._

Third Exam

"No! Shikamaru, if you go back for an ambush, you'll _DIE!" _Naruto cried; his big blue eyes wide with terror and determination. I stayed silent, Shikamaru was our only chance, and we had to trust in him to be able to at least stall our pursuers.

"Naruto, let Shikamaru deal with them, he is our only chance if we want to save Sasuke…." Naruto clenched his teeth, grinding them loudly and then he bellowed

"Fine!" Giving up, because he knew that he was out numbered. I turned my head to Shikamaru and nodded; he nodded back and then slowed down to let us speed ahead of him.

After a long while of silence Pakun, Kakashi's tracking dog, barked

"They've stopped." I let out of a breath of relief and kept going without comment. When we got to Sasuke, I was going to kick Gaara's ass, even if it killed me!


	4. Finally Friends

**A/N: Lol I've got a funny story about this chapter. It must have happened when I was editing a couple things and I accidentally replaced this chapter with the previous one, and then today while I was looking through my reviews I saw one by BluePanda22311 telling me that there were two chapters that were the same. So this is the REAL chapter lol. **

We reached the place were Sasuke and Gaara were engaged in combat; Sasuke was laying motionlessly on a tree branch, while Gaara snarled at him, telling him that he was weak and foolish to put his faith in others.

When I looked at Gaara my stomach turned unpleasantly, he was half turned into the demon he had locked inside. A cruel grin was spread across his face to reveal large and jagged teeth. Eerie blue vein like marking swirled around the part that was transformed; it made me sick to look at it.

I screamed and jumped in front of Sasuke with a kunai knife in hand as Gaara gave a blood-curdling roar and leaped. This was a foolish move. Gaara merely knocked me aside like and irksome fly, then with a loud smacking sound pressed me against the tree, the vindictive claws of Shukaku digging into the bark to keep me there.

My eye sight went blurry and my hearing obscured, then as I heard Naruto's distorted scream of rage, everything went completely black.

It seemed like only seconds later when I opened my eyes blurrily to find that I was on the forest floor. Everything was bright and confusing as I sat up with a grunt of pain. I heard someone's voice, it sounded like Pakun….

"Hey guys, Sakura's come to!" I blinked a couple times, trying to get the sunlight out of my eyes, when I felt someone's hand on my shoulder.

"Sakura, how do you feel? Any nausea, any eye sight problems, head ache?" I shook my head, even though I had all of those symptoms, I wasn't going to let them know that. Of course after a while the eye sight and nausea problems went away; but the head ache remained.

"W… where is Sasuke… and Naruto… and…and Pakun… what about Shikamaru… what happened to him?" I tried to get up, but was pushed back down by a gentle hand.

"They are all fine, just sit here awhile, you need to recover your strength." I rubbed my eyes to see who was talking, it was Kurenai-sensei… Shino's, Kiba's, and Hinata's sensei.

"My strength is recovered, let me see Sasuke…" I tried to get up once more, but again I was pushed down. But a new voice told me to stay this time; and something was weird about the way the hand pushed me down, from the angle it was in it made me think that the one who was pushing me back down was laying down on the ground as well.

"Don't do this to yourself… you will have plenty of time to see him… when you have recovered." The voice made me nearly scream out, but my throat was too dry to manage that. I looked down to see that my horrors were confirmed, the one who had spoken was indeed Gaara.

"Why… why are _you _still here?" I asked weakly, gently laying back down. Gaara took in a long sigh as he stared up at the sky with unblinking sea green eyes. He turned his bruised and battered head to me, but didn't answer the question. I looked at him, straining to see him clearly. I blinked a couple times to clear up my fogged vision.

He had dried up blood covering the majority of his forehead; I squinted to keep my vision clear. The symbol on his forehead… the kanji character for love… why did he have that? To my surprise I found myself asking this out loud. "Why do you have that?"

"What?"

"That tattoo on your forehead… why do you have that?" He looked back away again, staring into the canopy of leaves above head.

"I… because I was confused…" I sighed; it was at this time when I realized that it was hard to get a straight answer out of Gaara.

"Confused? About what…?"

"Life…. Laughter…. Love…." Frustration welled up inside me and I snarled,

"That's not a very good answer…" He sighed heavily as he got into a sitting position, hands on the forest floor to keep himself supported.

"I'm not very good at giving good answers…you wouldn't understand anyways…" He tried to get to his feet, but it was my turn to push him back down.

"Try me." I challenged. His eyes widened as he looked down at my hand that was pulling him slowly back to the forest floor, it was either with fear or with astonishment, it was hard to tell which. Once back on the ground he swiveled his head to look away from me then answered in a quiet voice.

"I was lonely… confused, neglected… I needed to know what love was… but the only answer I got was pain…" I snorted.

"Well, if you thought that getting a tattoo that said love on your forehead was going to give you an answer as to what love is, then your logic must come from some other dimension." He sighed again, a frown on his face as he looked questioningly at me.

"I didn't get it by choice…"

"So you were forced to get it? That's not very nice, if you ask me…" He grimaced at me, his frustration starting to show.

"If I had been forced to get it by a person, then it wouldn't have happened. Or have you already forgotten that I am protected by sand from any harm that may come to me? And harm includes being poked repeatedly by a giant needle with ink in it." I frowned at him, sometimes the way he answered my questions so rudely and yet so calmly made me get pissed off, but this time I wasn't in the mood to get pissed off, because now the answer was coming to me.

"So… if the sand protects you from coming to any harm… then that means… the only thing that can hurt you without being extremely fast is… the sand itself…?" He nodded. I looked away, suddenly very intent in trying to find a glimpse of sky through the shading of leaves. "Through out your whole life… you didn't know what love felt like… and all you wanted was to be accepted by someone… that must have been so painful…" I mumbled. He didn't answer but just kept staring in the opposite direction. I groaned softly as I got to my feet painfully. "I guess your right… I don't completely understand… but at least I can help ease that pain a little…" I held out my hand for him to take it and help him to his feet, a small smile creeping onto my face. "Gaara… can I be you first friend?"

Gaara looked at the hand in astonishment, eyes wide as he stared, the surprise on his face etched comically onto every detail of his expression. "C'mon, I promise I won't bite!" He stared at it for a moment longer, then with a grin the size of Alaska; he grabbed my hand and together we hauled him to his feet. This time no one stopped us as I let him use my body for support while saying quietly,

"Lets get to the hospital, believe me you need it!" He seemed to dazed to reply but the grin on his face didn't wane, as he said breathlessly

"Yeah…"


	5. Tricks and Temper Tantrums

**A/N: Woo! 2 more reviews! =D I know that that's not very many reviews, but, damn, I'm proud of 'em! Thank you to -YukiRozu - -Snowrose- and animefan0000012345! You guys are amazing, and just a quick warning, I've been getting REALLY busy, finals are coming up, and I'm studying my ass off, sorry that this is so late, and some of my next updates will probably be late as well. I'm SO sorry!**

"Mom! Why! He isn't bad, in fact he is the exact opposite, he was just misunderstood! You didn't ban me from hanging out with Naruto, so why is Gaara any different?" I was standing in the middle of the living room, eyes filled with tears of anger.

"Because, Sakura!" I bit my lip to hold back the rapidly coming tears.

"Because isn't an answer, it's a word!" I shot back, and despite the fact it was the lamest come-back in the world, I couldn't help but smile at it. I had gotten those very words form Naruto the first time Kakashi-sensei told us to do something that seemed completely useless and a waste of time.

My mother frowned at me and snapped,

"It's a one-word answer," I clenched and unclenched my fists.

"FINE!" I screamed at last, my voice broke noticeably as I turned away and stormed up the stairs, to my room. "BUT YOU'LL NEVER KEEP ME AWAY FROM HIM! NEVER!"

Once in my room I let the tears flow freely, curling onto my bed in a haze of heart-ache.

Once I calmed down, I wiped my tears and sat up. I had only felt this way about one person, and that was Sasuke, but I was over Sasuke.... so did this mean… did that mean that I loved Gaara? I sighed, my confused feelings making my head pound.

Finally after about ten minutes of puzzling over Gaara, I decided that I would visit him secretly, without my mother knowing.

~~~~On the way to visit Gaara…~~~~

"Why are you getting two again? You know Rock Lee left the hospital yesterday." I was in Ino's parents' shop, for what seemed like the millionth time sense the exams started. I smiled to myself at her naivety,

"One for Naruto and one for… Gaara…" I looked up from my flowers to see Ino looking at me like I crazy.

"Y-you do know what he tried to do to you, Sasuke, and Naruto right?" I glanced back down at my flowers, then set both them down and took a different one, a forget-me-not. I took a petal in between my thumb and finger and pulled it off, while saying softly.

"I love him…"

~~~~Visiting Gaara~~~~

"Gaara, you have a visitor," Said my escort nurse, her voice a flat monotone, expression bored. My heart was pounding in my chest, it felt like it was going to jump out of my rib cage and still be running. I had no clue what I was supposed to say to Gaara! What if he was back to the way he used to be, blood-thirsty and scary? I gulped as his voice drifted out to me.

"Enter…" My heart skipped a beat… his voice was so amazing, I was surprised I hadn't fallen in love with it the first time I had heard it. I gulped and slowly opened the door. Gaara was laying on a bright white hospital bed, propped up by fluffy pallid pillows that contrasted horribly with his pale skin; he was covered by the blindingly white sheets.

I stepped into the room, his expression turned from slight puzzlement, to utter bewilderment. I smiled at his face and laughed as he asked in a wondrous voice,

"Sakura?"

"Of course, who did you think it would be?" He didn't answer. I chuckled again then stepped farther into the room, setting the flowers casually on the night stand. He looked at the flowers for a while, then back at me.

"Those are for m-me?" He stuttered, and for a second he looked about to cry from his over-whelming emotions, but he pulled himself together quickly and whispered. "Thank you…"

I grinned at him and giggled "Don't worry about it," It amazed me at how easy it was to talk to him now that I was actually doing it, instead of worrying about what I should say. It was so effortless to talk casually with Gaara, unlike it was with Sasuke; that's what I liked about Gaara, he didn't make me feel like I was such a failure.

A couple minutes later, I found myself talking to Gaara about my connections to Suna, then about friends, and then suddenly Gaara became unexpectedly garrulous. Now I was the one listening as Gaara told me about his childhood, explained why he had been so blood-thirsty when he had arrived at Konoha, and talked about how Naruto had made him understand that true strength didn't come from power, but from determination to protect your friends.

I was crying so hard at the end, that here was actually small puddles on the back of my hand were the tears had been splashing endlessly. After he finished I wiped my eyes, but that didn't help, I still cried.

"What's wrong?" Gaara asked, and there was genuine concern in his voice. I sniffed and then tried to control my voice as I choked

"I-it's so sad… what y-you had to go through… I'm s-s-so sorry…"

"Sorry for what? It was not your fault…"

"N-no! I d-don't know if you remember but…" I couldn't finish the sentence because I was crying too hard; but it turned out that there was no need to.

"That you were the first one to approach me without any sign of fear or hatred, of course I remember." I nodded, then waited while I calmed myself down, gulping for air. After I had stopped crying I croaked,

"But I left you; I can't imagine how much that must have hurt you… that's why I'm apologizing…" He looked at me for a extensive amount of time then said,

"It did hurt me, but, you also became one of my first and only friends, I don't regret meeting you that day, nor any other day…" That made me feel a little better. I was silent a long time, but it wasn't and awkward silence, more like a warm, comfortable silence, but I was never one to stay silent for too long, so I asked,

"Gaara?"

"Hmm?"

"You still don't understand completely what love is… do you?" The gauche question had tumbled out of my mouth before I had time to think about it, it was almost like someone else was controlling the words that came out of my mouth. It was then when I realized that Gaara had this special and very rare talent to make me do rather pointless things, always resulting in making him feel a little better.

He stared at me for a long, long time, then with a minuscule smile he stated,

"No, not really." It was now that I also realized that Gaara didn't lie, even if it meant giving away his most precious secret, if someone asks, he would answer; this also meant that if he swore never to tell one of your secrets, he would keep that secret even if it killed him.

I closed my eyes, a small flutter of panic starting to rise in the pit of my stomach, the kind panic that makes your thinking unclear, it takes over your body and makes you do things that you otherwise would never do. It was this panic speaking right now.

"Well… I can help you with that…" I whispered, barely audible. Gaara looked confused, gazing at me quizzically, his head cocked to one side. He started to talk.

"What do y-" But before he could finish, I swooped down to kiss him softly, but stopped before my lips landed on his, I couldn't do it.

I gulped and clapped my hands over my mouth; my heart beating as if I had just run thirty miles without stopping. I closed my eyes in hope that when Gaara started to yell at me, it would make it better if I couldn't see. But the yelling never came; so I opened my eyes.

Gaara was blinking up at me, his face completely blank with shock.

"I-I'm sorry…" I apologized, hoping that he didn't think I was a total bitch. His eyes narrowed as he asked,

"Are you scared?" I looked at him for a long time then whispered,

"Yes,"

"I won't hurt you... Not anymore…" I knew by the look on his face that he wasn't lying, but that wasn't why I was scared.

"That's not why I'm afraid… I'm afraid that you…. That you don't feel… how I feel when I'm near you…" He cocked his head to the other side again, clearly confused.

"What do you mean?" I gulped, I wasn't ready for this, it was much too soon for me to tell Gaara that I loved him. But yet again, that controlling panic started to take over me again and I found myself stuttering over my words, as if it were someone else saying them.

"I LOVE YOU, DAMMIT GAARA! I LOVE YOU!" I found myself yelling it, but that didn't matter, all that mattered was that Gaara was taking in a deep breath and looking away from me, and his words were strained with the effort to stop from crying as he whispered,

"Sakura, you don't need to lie to me just to make me feel better." I actually stood up in frustration and stamped my foot audibly.

"I'm not! I'm not lying!" I exclaimed, biting my bottom lip, tears already forming in my eyes. Gaara didn't say anything, but only grunted in disbelief. Gaara looked back at me, I was glad to see that he had gotten control of his emotions. "I-if I was lying, I wouldn't have the guts to do this!" I and this time I was completely conscience of my actions as I bent down and kissed him tenderly and passionately, and as I did so the tears rolled down my cheeks, because now all I was conscience of was that Gaara wasn't returning the kiss.

Once I noticed this, I stopped; turning away so that he couldn't see how badly he had hurt me. My silent crying was choked to a stop when I heard him _laughing; _actually laughing, not laughing wickedly, but happily. I spun around to glare daggers at him.

"What! What's so funny?" I hissed. He quickly sobered himself, then replied in his usual black and unreadable.

"You fell for it."

"For what!"

"I was _trying _to get you to do that." Now I actually jumped up and down in fury, face turning red in my rage as I was wrenched speechless.

"You…. You little…. You made me, how could you….. UGH! You didn't even… why, how, you… you… YOU JERK!" I spat, and with all my might, I drew back my right fist as far as it would go and punched him. Of course this only ended with his sand rushing in front of my fist and hurting _me. _

He watched me with a ghost of amusement across his face as I hopped up and down the room, nursing my hand and cursing loudly and violently at anything and everything that came to mind.

After I had calmed down enough to actually speak normally, I sat down on the end of his bed.

I pouted for about ten minutes then started to talk to him again, then soon we were both laughing at my reaction to finding out that he had tricked me into making me kiss him.

"You know Gaara, I knew you were cunning, but I never thought that you would be a cunning pervert." He frowned at me, turning the hems of his bright white sheets over in his hands.

"I'm not a pervert." He stated. I laughed.

"I was just kidding!" But our conversation was interrupted by a knock on the door, and a soft voice spoke

"Gaara, I'm afraid it's time for your visitor to leave, and time for you to get some rest." I sighed, gave Gaara a swift kiss, then left smiling brightly to myself, humming a tuneless song to myself as I headed home.


	6. Gifts that heal and reveal

**A/N: I got some more replies! YUSH! Another one from –YukiRozu--SnowRose- then one from DarkSacredJewelXoX, and finally ANOTHER one from Animefan0000012345. I swear I'm about to pass out from happiness! And a special thanks to DarkSacredJewel because she gave me tons of ways to improve on my story! Woo =D. And also a special thanks to Rin-chan/YukiRozu and Animefan for reviewing TWICE! =D I love you all, and hope you like the next chapter! **

~~~During practice~~~

I was panting hard as I pressed my back rigidly on the hard bark of a large tree. I needed to concentrate on practicing, but it was so difficult. Gaara was going to leave for Suna this afternoon, and I wouldn't be able to make it out of practice soon enough to say good-bye. I felt the tears rise to my eyes. _NO! I'm not going to cry! I'm a ninja, so I need to act like one! _I thought desperately; but I had let my guard down, and now Kakashi-sensei had his face in front of mine and was pressing a jagged kunai knife to my throat.

I squeaked in surprise when I realized that I had lost. I sighed in defeat and got up, brushing the dirt off my cloths as I did so.

"Giving up so soon? What's wrong today Sakura? You seem distracted." I grimaced, was it really that noticeable? "If you want to become and accomplished kunoichi, Sakura, you need to be able to disguise your emotions better than that." I responded by a miserable little nod, not daring to say anything in case my voice gave anything away.

Kakashi's expression softened slightly and he asked "All right, what's wrong?" I looked at my sensei, he was more than a sensei to me and Naruto, he was someone we could trust to keep a secret, and he seemed to understand our feelings more than anyone else, he always knew a way to make his protégés feel better. You know how they say that listening is 75% of communication, well, Kakashi was a master at listening; and after he listened, he would reply in such a way that would always lift your spirits, even just a little.

"Hhhhuuuu…" I sighed, then lifted my eyes to look at Kakashi's only showing eye. "I guess it's because…" I blushed and looked down at my feet in embarrassment. "Because Gaara is leaving today…" I said Gaara's name extremely quietly and quickly so that it wasn't really audible.

"Who?" I screwed up my face and gritted the name out like it was causing me physical pain.

"G—A—A--R--A" Kakashi-sensei looked at me in blank shock, and surprisingly there was a touch of understanding too. He nodded knowingly and whispered.

"Ah, yes, so you love Gaara of the desert?" I swallowed hard and murmured,

"Yes…" I shifted my eyes to watch as my toe prodded a tuft of grass. Kakashi frowned, and for once his words weren't helping at all.

"Well, Sakura, I have to admit, you find the oddest people to fall for." I grimaced again; I seemed to be doing that a lot in these past few minutes.

"Please, don't tell Naruto, if he finds out about us, he will never leave me alone…" Kakashi nodded again, and then he said the words I had been waiting to hear for at least ten minutes.

"Why don't you just skip practice today? I'll tell the other two that you felt sick…" My face brightened up like the world lit up after a rain storm; and before I could stop myself, I was jumping in the air with joy and hugging Kakashi-sensei happily, repeating the same words over and over and over.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!" Kakashi chuckled a little then shooed me away quickly, using the excuse 'the boys might be around someplace…' **(A/N: NO! I am NOT a Sakura X Kakashi fan! So don't get the wrong idea by this part. I hug my teachers all the time; male and female.** **And the only way I will EVER write a Sakura X Kakashi fan fic is if I'm requested to! Thank you, and please, please, PLEASE, don't get the wrong idea!) **

My spirits were high as I walked to my house and into my room. My mom and dad were both at work right now, so I didn't have to worry about being stopped by them. I searched cheerily through my room for a large basket, a picture of myself, two scrolls, an instant camera, countless picture frames, and a small bottle that held healing ointment. After gathering all this stuff, I went looking for my cat, which had had a litter of kittens that were now just old enough to leave their mother. I set the kitten gently into the basket, and it mewed soft but persistent protests to being stuffed into a crowded basket. I though for a while and then took a small pillow out of a storage room and make a bed for the kitten in the basket.

I glanced at my watch; it was time for me to leave if I wanted to catch Gaara before he got out of the village. I stood up and ran out of my room, down the stairs, and out the front door, pushing my way through the crowded streets to get to the gates of Konoha.

I was completely out of breath as I stumbled into the sight of the gates, gasping and clutching an ache in my side. Gaara was already half way out of the gates so I screamed at the top of my lungs,

"GAARA! WAIT!" He stopped and turned around slowly, his siblings and sensei were all behind him, and they turned around as well.

They waited until I had caught up to them and caught my breath, and then I smiled up at them; still breathing heavily. "I thought… that I was too late… for a second…" I gasped, hands on knees, setting the basket that was covered by a purple blanket. It was a different thing to just sprint full out, and sprint full out while making sure you don't hurt a little kitten sitting in a basket. I straitened up, and beamed up at them, they all looked a little taken aback. "Anyways… I've got all you guys some stuff." I said, pulling the blanket off the basket. First I took the kitten, who looked dazed from the long and probably rather bumpy run. "This is for Temari, you can name her whatever you like, but make sure you take good care of her, she was my favorite." Temari's jaw dropped.

"Thank you!" She squealed after getting over the shock, taking the kitten gently and snuggling it with a soft croon. The kitten and Temari took to each other immediately.

Then I turned to Kankuro, he looked at me curiously and eagerly, trying to get past me to peer into the basket. I laughed and rummaged in it until I found the scrolls. I pulled them out, holding them out with one hand.

"Might as well get rid of that piece of junk on your back, 'cause now you've got a knew one, and its cousin. But the scrolls are temporary, you'll have to summon them and carry two on your back." Kankuro looked about ready to faint as he took the scrolls and exclaimed,

"YES! I've been wanting the black ant for so long. Thank you!"

"You better take good care of that, I had it ordered all the way from Suna, I'll be paying for it for the rest of my years." Kankuro was speechless. Next I turned to Baki. He looked slightly alarmed that I had included him in my circle of generous gifts. I smiled respectfully at him and pulled out the bottle of ointment. "I didn't know what else to give you, so I decided to give you something that might come in handy." Baki took it without saying anything but a slight grunt of thanks.

I nodded to him, gulped, and then turned to Gaara. "I actually have two for you…" I told him. He watched me as I bent down and rummaged through the basket until I found the picture of myself. I handed it to him and whispered in his ear "This is to remind you that no matter how difficult life gets… and no matter how lonely you may be… there is always someone out there that loves you."

He took the picture wordlessly, too overcome with emotion to speak properly. I smiled at him in understanding then bent down again to get the instant camera.

"C'mon you guys, it's not like I'll let you guys leave without pictures! Everyone get in a group," Temari laughed cheerily and moved in front of the camera, pulling a grumbling Kankuro with her. I looked expectantly at Gaara. He stood his ground, the picture held securely in his grip.

We glared at each other for what seemed like forever, and then I looked at Baki for help. He shook his head, with an expression that told me that Gaara was my problem. I sighed then walked towards Gaara, he backed away. Finally-after a long battle of threatening looks- I pointed my finger back at Kankuro and Temari. "Get your stubborn ass over there, _now…_" I don't know what did it, but Gaara shrugged and walked over to his siblings coolly and calmly, the smirk on his face even more pronounced.

I smiled again and took the picture quickly, before Gaara could change his mind. Then I took pictures of all of them separately. This time I had a war with Kankuro and Baki instead of Gaara.

After all the pictures were taken I stretched, said bye to all of them and started to walk away, but Temari called me back. "You said you were giving Gaara two gifts… well, what's his second?" I grinned sheepishly at Temari, then walked to Gaara.

"My second gift…" I whispered. I stood on my tip toes slightly, wrapping my arms around his neck and pulling myself up to his lips. I heard in take in a small and almost unnoticeable gasp of surprise, this was probably the last thing he had expected for his second "gift".

A smile spread across my face because this time he _did _kiss me back, and enthusiastically too. I pressed myself against his firm chest, feeling his heart racing, thumping in sync with my exploding heart. I had forgotten about Temari and Kankuro; my mind was starting to blur as his tongue touched my lips; tracing them, begging for a chance to enter.

Before I had a chance to oblige his request, however, I was pulled back to reality in the form of Baki clearing his throat noticeable, Kankuro shifting his back to us, pretending he hadn't seen, and Temari laughing like a lunatic.

I pulled away reluctantly, only to find Gaara's arms draped tightly around my waist. I looked up at him, the ghost of a smile was dancing across his perfect face, making him look very mischievous as he bent down and whispered in my ear, mouth brushing softly against it and making shivers run up my spine.

"Now who's the pervert?" I laughed, and decided on a simple reply.

"I just wanted to tell your family and sensei that we were together, and why not do it in a way that I'd enjoy it?" He chuckled, moving his hands away from me to let me move freely. I sighed and walked away, smiling broadly, waving good-bye to everyone. And the last thing I heard before the sand siblings left Konoha was Kankuro saying, in an awkward tone,

"My gift was the best." Then Temari replying enthusiastically

"Yeah right! Your gift isn't _living_!" next Gaara

"I got two gifts, so that makes mine the best." Then an awkward silence and an outburst of laughter. I grinned happily to myself, as I tried to clutch onto the fading memory of Gaara's lips on mine.

**A/N # 2: I was thinking about making this the last chapter, but I don't know… I really like the way this chapter ends, but then again I've got so many more parts to add to this story that I honestly have no idea what to do -.- **


	7. Letters

**A/N: Yush! I got 11 reviews! Woot woot! Thankz you to BluePanda22311 for telling me that chapter 4 was the same as chapter 3 lol. So if you just skipped chapter 4 Bcuz it was the same as chapter 3, then it's fixed now, just in case you want to read it. And to my last chapter, when I wasn't sure if I wanted to continue this story, obviously I decided to continue the story. I also want to thank Animefan again Bcuz she gave me some ideas for future chapters on this story but right now I'm not really ready to skip to the shippuden so I'll do those ideas when I'm finished with mine! And in this chapter Sasuke has left, but Gaara isn't Kazekage yet, and Naruto and Sakura aren't studying under Jariya and Tsunade yet. **

I leaned back in my chair as I wrote a report to Lady Tsunade about our progress on getting Sasuke back, and it wasn't going well. I sighed in exasperation as I heard my mom call me for what seemed like the umpteenth time.

"Sakura! You have a letter! Come down here and get it!" My annoyance grew as I shouted back,

"Who the hell is it from!"

"Don't use that kind of language around me, and it doesn't matter who it is from, just come and get it!" I sighed and got out of my chair, grumbling small insults to my mother as I walked down the stairs to get the letter.

"Thank you." I said stiffly as I took the letter and ran back up the stairs. I set the letter aside and ignored it, not even glancing at the address. The only reason I wasn't tearing open the letter right then and there was because of the way my mom had made me take it.

It was dark starting to get dark when I finally finished my report. I stretched with the luxurious feeling of stiff muscles and cramps being soothed and rigid joints cracking with a satisfying popping sound. My mind started to wonder to Kakashi-sensei dumping the report writing on me, then to Sasuke… When I had made Naruto promise to bring Sasuke back to me, it was because I was having mixed feelings. I still loved Gaara-of course- but having long-distant relationships were hard. A couple months after Gaara's departure, I had started to feel for Sasuke again, but then Sasuke had left and I hadn't been thinking strait because I was so upset, and I guess I had made it seem like I was still madly in love with Sasuke; but in reality I still loved Gaara more than Sasuke. That was the simple truth of it, and now Sasuke was beginning to become a sore subject with me. Sometimes I felt like all I needed to do was see Gaara's real face- one not in a picture. Just one more time and everything would be all right… maybe if I saw Gaara's face once more this would all have turned out to be a bad dream, and I would wake up to find that Gaara hadn't left yet.

I rubbed my eyes wearily and whispered "Oh god… I miss him so much…" I pulled my knees up onto the chair and rested my chin in between them. I scanned my desk top to see the everyday items on them. Pencils, pens, paper, scattered envelopes, notebooks, the faded pictures of Gaara, Temari, Kankuro, Baki, and my old squad that consisted of Me, Kakashi, Naruto and Sasuke. I looked back at the letter and squinted at the name address. It was addressed to me, of course, but what confused me was that it was from Gaara.

My mom still hated Gaara, so I would have thought that she would have ripped up the letter and burnt it to ashes. I pondered on this for a moment then shrugged, if my mom didn't mind me reading a letter from Gaara then who was I to protest?

My heart started to thud against my chest perceptibly as I tore open the letter and read the note. It wasn't terribly short, and not terribly long. But as I read it I noticed that Gaara's handwriting was worse than mine.

Dear Sakura,

Everything is fine at Suna, but Kankuro dared me to write to you- of course I couldn't refuse, I was thinking about writing you anyway. Temari named her cat Haruko, and the cat is getting extremely fat. Kankuro got a third puppet to his collection- the serpent or something like that. I'm doing okay, getting on the good side of my village is a challenge and one that I'm not sure I can do, but one I'm willing to try. Baki is fine as well, but he is still freaked out by me.

Hope to hear from you soon,

Love, Gaara.

I rummaged through my desk for pencil and paper and started to write back.

Dear Gaara,

I stopped right there… what was I supposed to say? Nothing terribly exciting had happened lately, so there wasn't really anything to say. I thought for a while then scrolled down the following;

Thank you for writing to me, but I have to admit I wasn't expecting it. Life in Konoha is well... boring. Naruto ate at least 50 bowls of ramen yesterday; I think that's a record. I think you will be able to accomplish more than just getting on the good side of the village, you're a wonderful person with a good heart, so I know you'll be able to do it! Who knows, you might even become Kazekage! I miss you so much; I hope that I can see you soon! Don't give up hope, I'll see you ASAP maybe I can convince my mother to let us visit May, my cousin.

Love you lots,

Sakura.

I folded up the paper carefully and tucked it securely into an envelope. I ran down stairs quickly, both letters in hand. I ran to my mothers' room. She was lying motionlessly on her bed, staring blankly up at the ugly yellowish white ceiling.

"Mother?" I whispered and she turned her head slowly to look at me. I walked gradually to her bed and sat criss-cross on it. "Why did you let me read the letter when I know you hate Gaara?" She sat up slowly and looked at me through pained eyes.

"Sakura…?" She said in a hoarse voice.

"Yes?"

"I guess it was because I think you're old enough to choose who you talk to…" I nodded, but I could tell that something was bothering her.

"Why do you hate Gaara so much?" I asked, looking down at my entwined feet. She shifted slightly to see me more clearly. I was almost an exact replica of my mother, but she had long hair and I had short and she was a much older version of me- she also had brown eyes instead of emerald.

"Gaara of the desert…" She said thoughtfully, leaning back down onto her pillows and sighing heavily. "He… he"

"Yes?"

"He is the one who murdered my brother." I felt the shock of her word run through my body, it had been Gaara who had murdered my favorite uncle? Sure, he had been a drunk, but he had always played with me and was more concerned about my safety than about his own. Every time he got drunk he would make sure that he was away from me and my family so that we didn't have to see him when he was drunk. It had been on one of these occasions when he had left the house- beer in hand- and then had never returned. In fact it had happened only days after the first time I had seen Gaara.

I felt the tears well up, it couldn't be! Gaara had changed… he had changed.

"N-no… no. You're lying! I won't believe it! I can't!" My mom looked sympathetically at me, her large brown eyes softening.

"Sakura…" She whispered, putting her hand on my shoulder. I shrugged it off, trying to hold in my tears.

"People can change right? Gaara changed… See? Read the letter! He changed!" I took his letter out of my hands and shoved it into hers, and I couldn't help the tears coming now, as my mom took the letter and read it slowly.

"Sakura… I think that Gaara has changed, and that you should judge him for who he is now, not then. But I have to ask you this first… what exactly is your relationship with him?" I wiped away the tears, my mom's words had made me feel better about the situation so I told her in a shaky voice,

"Gaara is… I guess you can call him my boyfriend." My mother looked unsurprised as she looked back down at the letter she held gingerly in her hands.

"What is it that made you love him?" She asked, turning the paper around in her hands to look at the back.

"I don't know… I guess it just happened." She nodded in understanding, and then looked back up at me, and I was surprised to see that she was smiling.

"I think I need to stop holding a grudge and try to get to know the Gaara that you fell for, who knows maybe he has changed!" I smiled, now I felt recovered almost one hundred percent, but I still couldn't shake off the sharp sting of betrayal.

~~~~ Some odd days later ~~~~

I walked into my house wearily and announced that I was home. My day at practice had been hard, and I was looking forward to a long bath and relaxing in my bed until I drifted off to sleep. But my plans for a relaxing evening were ruined when my mother called to me,

"Sakura! Get your bags packed! We're going to Suna!" I ran into the living room, my previous fatigue forgotten as I asked

"What? Why now? When and… SUNA!" I looked around the living room quickly for my mom but she wasn't in there, so I tried the kitchen next, she was in there, packing food for our trip. She looked about to burst with happiness as she threw a letter my way, it was addressed to the Haruno Family, I read the letter quickly. I kept re-reading it, it was an invitation to a wedding, and apparently it was May's mother who was getting married!

"Mom… you realize what this means right?" She looked up from her packing then said softly,

"That you get to visit Gaara?" I stared at her intently, and asked,

"Will you let me?" She was silent for a long time, then she looked back down at the food.

"Yes… I will let you." I clapped my hands in my joy and wrapped my arms around her neck and pecked her quickly on the cheek.

"Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!" Although Gaara had been the one to murder my uncle, I still couldn't stop missing him. He had changed a lot since he was six-years old, and I had taken my mother's advice and judged him for who he _is_ not was. "Have you already told Tsunade-Sama and Kakashi-sensei that I'll be leaving?"

"Yes, they both said it was fine for you to go." I squealed, throwing my hands in the air in triumph and kissing my mom again.

"Yes!"

"You know, you're going to have to pay attention to May as well,"

"Yeah, I know…"

~~~While packing~~~

I looked up and out my window, it wasn't going to be long until I was out there and walking toward Suna, walking towards Gaara. I in a deep sigh as I finished packing all my cloths, then straightened. I looked down at my handy work for a few seconds, and then my mother called me.

"Sakura! You've got a letter from Gaara, though I don't think it'll be much use in reading it, seeing how you're going to be seeing him anyway!" I ran down the stairs, ignoring my mother's last sentence and tearing open the letter quickly. My heart plummeted when I read it.

"Mom… Gaara is coming to Konoha…."

"So?"

"That means I _won't be able to see him._" I stared down at the quickly scribbled letter again and again. My mom looked completely unabashed by this little scrap of information, in fact she almost looked gleeful. But then-seeing the down-cast expression on my face- she comforted me by saying,

"Unless we meet him on the way to Suna, You never know, maybe you can convince him to come back to Suna with you!" I sighed deeply and asked the question I already knew the answer to,

"Can I just stay at Konoha, please?"

"No."

"Damn… why the hell do I have to go to the stupid wedding anyways? Whatever bastard that May's mom is getting married to will never be as good as…" I stopped my sentence quickly at the threatening look on my mother's face.

"Yeah, you better stop, or else if we do meet Gaara on the way, you won't even be able to talk to him." I gave my mom a look that plainly wished her a painful death, then stormed back up to my room, tears starting to form in my eyes. This was such a pain. And now I was starting to sound like Shikamaru… great.


	8. Words of Wisdom

**A/N: Sorry about the lateness of this upload, Finals are starting tomorrow [Sad face panda )=]I hope you enjoy! and a couple notes for my previous chapter- I have no idea if Sakura's uncle really was murdered, I don't even know if she has an uncle -.- I also don't think that you ever even meet Sakura's father or mother in the anime/manga. Please R&R **

I walked by my mother in an icy silence, my father was lagging behind about ten paces. I slowed to match his walk, looking up into the hollowed face and deeply tanned skin. I was grateful to my father for giving me his eyes, cause in my opinion, brown eyes and pink hair didn't go well together at all.

"Hey, kido, what's up?" My dad greeted, ruffling my hair playfully. I looked up into his unfilled and thin face and sighed.

"Nothing much, I guess…" I looked up the path, we were about three miles away from Konoha by this time, and we still hadn't run into any kind of sand ninja and definitely none with a giant gourd on his back. I took in another deep sigh, it was useless to wish for meeting Gaara on the way to Suna, after all, he probably knew tones different paths and short cuts to Konoha, besides Gaara was a master at stealth, his every move was quieter than a leaf skidding gently around the rippling surface of a small puddle of water.

I walked by my dad in a comfortable silence for a long time, he was humming quietly to the rhythm of our footsteps, his deep low-pitched and rather monotonic voice oddly comforting to my ruffled emotions. We walked in silence until the sun started to get lower, sending a beautiful orange, pink and red blaze across the softly clouded sky. It was now when we my father made a soft comment about the gorgeous sun-set. I nodded silently in agreement to his words, the sun-set really was a stunning sight that people took for granted too often.

I watched the sun sink down delicately and leisurely until my mom's brisk voice cut in through my brief sense of peace and content,

"I think we should eat something and get some sleep. We'll be walking all day tomorrow." I nodded as we found a pleasant place to settle down and sat down next to my dad, my mom on the other side of him. Almost simultaneously me and my mom leaned against his shoulder as he put his arms gently around our shoulders, and like this we watched the sky silently, pondering our own thoughts in the velvety silence as each of us started to drift off into a peaceful slumber.

Not much could get better than this, I thought cheerily, but then a more depressing voice in the back of my head whispered unless he was with us… And without further ado, I felt my lids slide closed slowly and blackness fall over my world.

~~~About an hour later~~~

I woke up with a start, I had a blanket over me- which meant my father or mother had covered me. I got up slowly, one hand going through my hair while the other supported my weight. Everything was dark now, the beautiful sun-set long gone. I looked around; both parents were sleeping soundly with nothing but pleasant dreams crossing their minds.

I pulled one of my knees slowly to my chest and rested my chin on it, keeping the other one situated on the ground. This pose wasn't one I was used to, but it was comfortable.

I stared blankly at my parents sleeping forms, they were snuggled warmly together, both looking perfectly content in the curious and powerful spell of sleep.

I gave a long sigh and then lay back down on the ground, covering myself back up with the blanket and trying to get back to sleep.

Suddenly a pale hand reached out from behind me and slapped over my mouth, pulling me to a standing position and holding me firmly against a solid and rock-hard chest.

A shiver ran down my spine as an oily voice whispered in my ear "If you move, you die, when I let you go, you will not scream or run away, got it?" I took in a deep breath, the hand that was holding me tasted like sweat. I nodded slowly, fear clouding my mind and making it impossible to think clearly. The hand let me go ruthlessly, making me stumble a bit.

When I was let go, I turned to look at my captor, he was-to use one word- scary. He had a burn scar spreading across the left side of his face and reaching down his neck and down to his bare back. His long white hair reached down to his broad and well-muscled shoulders- giving the impression of extreme age. His chest had five long and ugly slash marks down his large chest that twisted down to his stomach and then swished to the side and out of sight, probably reaching to his spinal cord. Despite all this, he stood with the posture of a medieval prince, shoulders pushed back proudly, chest poking out and chin thrust out slightly.

The side of his face without the shiny burn mark was oddly blank, his bright pitiless blue eyes fixed with intense concentration on me.

I took in all this in a split second, and then did the thing I had promised not to do. I screamed. My parents were woken out of their sleep and they both stood up, but before they could do anything there were two people standing behind them, holding kunai knifes at their throats and smirking triumphantly at each other.

My scream was put to an end when I felt someone's warm and oddly comforting back pressed to mine. I looked back to see a glimpse of brown hair and purple face make-up when I heard Kankuro's smug voice say to the darkness

"Hey, Gaara, your pick- you choose which one you want to kill, as long as I get one." Despite the situation I was in, my heart almost jump out of my chest when I heard this sentence. Gaara was here! Then I heard the voice I had been longing to hear for so long.

"You get those two, I can get this one" Gaara's voice was cold and cruel, as the first time it had been when I heard it, this made my stomach clench unpleasantly, had he changed again? But as I strained my eyes to see were Gaara's voice was coming from, sand shot up from the ground and wrapped itself around the one who was threatening me.

"Heh, works for me." I watched with wide eyes as two puppets came out of the bushes. I recognized them as the new ones I had given him. I already knew what was going to happen to the two that had my parents, and it gave me no pleasure to watch as they were caught in the hollow stomach of The Crow and then stabbed from all sides by The Black Ant; so I turned my head to Gaara's victim, I had never actually seen Gaara use his sand coffin effectively, and I was curious as what it really did.

Now Gaara showed himself, he looked angry, not like he had when I had met him during the chuunin exams, but the type of anger Naruto had when one of his friends were harmed.

His hair was slightly longer, body more set and muscular, taller, and all in all a lot sexier. **(RANDOM A/N: Haha I was actually seriously debating on whether or not to use that word. I guess it's just a little thing, but I honestly had no clue if it would be weird or not to use it. And finally I asked my sissy about it and she said "Well do you think Gaara is sexy?" I was like "Well yeah…" She was like "Do you call him sexy?" I was like "I guess…" Then she was all "Then just USE IT!" IDK I kind of laughed at myself for that =D)**

The sand started to inch its way to cover the face of the man, cutting off the screams. Suddenly I wasn't so sure if I should keep watching, but the way it drew my eyes was like a magnetic pull. I clenched my teeth tightly and tried to look away, but didn't manage.

What came after that made me wish that I had watched Kankuro's instead. The sand started to constrict, slowly at first but when Gaara reached his arm in front of him and clenched his fist on mid-air, it twirled around like a rag getting water rung out of it and squeezed until blood started to squirt forcefully out of the grains of sand.

My eyes widened in shock and horror as a fleck of blood splattered sickeningly onto my cheek. I lifted my hand to feel the wet and think liquid, then looked at the red-stained fingers, mind clogged with fear.

There was a long silence as all the eyes were drawn to me, staring down at my bloody fingers in shock. After the shock and fear was over, there came confusion, everything had happened so quickly. I looked up to see my mother looked at me with blank fear on her face, my father staring at Gaara and Kankuro as if the world had just ended, and finally Gaara and Kankuro immune to all the staring.

"What… what just happened?" I finally managed to choke out, my voice seemed to snap everyone back to their senses. Gaara shifted from one foot to the other guiltily looking down at his feet, Kankuro- who had moved away from my back and was now standing next to his younger brother- frowned slightly.

Then another familiar and very welcome voice said

"Gaara and Kankuro just saved your ass, that's what just happened." I grinned up to see Temari standing on a branch of a tree and leaning coolly against the trunk. There was a swirl of wind as she puffed down to the ground, fan in hand and grin in place.

Everything was coming together now, and now all I could feel was relief, and immense delight.

"Gaa-Gaara! How long have you been following us?" Gaara glanced up from his feet and looked apologetically at me.

"Since you left…" He told me softly, looking directly into my eyes. My relief and gratitude turned into an unexplainable rage- that didn't exactly feel like anger, but more like a pleasant trickle of annoyance- as I ran to him, hugging him tightly and burying my face into his cloths. I noticed as I started to yell at him for not showing himself that he didn't smell overpoweringly like cologne, and he didn't smell like sweat either, he just smelt pleasant. A comforting sent, one that soothed me and made me think of those few memories when I had seen his smile-his real smile.

"Why didn't you show yourself before now?" It was Temari who answered this time.

"We were ordered to not be seen by anyone, but of course when you where getting attacked, we had to help." I nodded.

"Why are you coming to Konoha anyway?" I looked from sibling to sibling, the oddness of the situation finally dawning on me.

"Don't you know? We are coming here because the Hokage requested help with some trouble with Orochimaru, were only here a little while; about a week." I frowned, still clinging onto Gaara like a life-line. But as I opened my mouth to say something, there was a small sob from my mother-who was still in shock. I turned my gaze to her to see that she was looking pointedly away from Gaara, while rocking back and forth on her feet, obviously holding in tears.

"Mom… what's wrong?" I let go of Gaara's waist and took his hand, pulling him with me as I walked to my mom. Gaara followed without a fight, then what surprised me the most is that he actually moved closer to me until he actually standing half beside and half behind me. He bent down slightly to whisper stiffly in my ear,

"She is probably in shock, after all, seeing this much blood in one day isn't something most at home mothers are used to." I nodded then set my hand gently on my moms shoulder, then turned to Gaara.

"Do you have any cloth?" He nodded slowly, then just ripped off a part of his shirt and handed it to me. I used the cloth to clean the blood off of my moms face, then off of my face.

I rocked her back and forth until she calmed down a bit, then whispered softly,

"It's okay, Mom, we're safe… there is nothing to worry about."

"No! No it's not! Not while that monster is here!" Her voice was shrill with clouded panic as she pointed a shaky and accusing finger at Gaara, her eyes closed tightly.

I looked to Gaara- he looked hurt, but having been called a monster all his life had made it easier to bare being hurt like this.

But me on the other hand couldn't stand it when people screamed when he came near, I loved him too much to stand for that kind of behavior. I stood up with a new authority in my stance, drew back my hand-palm open- and slapped my mother across the face, making her eyes snap open in shock, and tears stop as the unexpected and sharp pain shot through her cheek.

I was surprised at how clam my voice was when I hissed

"You call Gaara a monster, when you're really the real monster, to hurt someone repeatedly and judging them before you get the chance to actually know them, that's what makes up a true monster." I gave a small and painful smile as I said icily "And mom, I'm sorry to say this but- you are a true monster."

**A/N: Hahahahaha Yes! I finished! About time too. I hope you guys enjoyed this rather boring chapter- but I promise next chapter is when everything starts to happen *Grins evilly* I'm very excited for my next chapter, this chapter was just to prove how strong Sakura's love for Gaara is- and next chapter is showing how strong Gaara's love for Sakura is. Heh-Heh Heh. **


	9. Betrayal

**A/N: My usual thank yous to all who reviewed =D Again I'm sorry about the lateness; I'm still studying 4 finals, and on top of that I HAD WRITERS BLOCK! D= I already knew what I was going to do for the chapter, but honestly I couldn't think of the best way to put it in words =O Love u all and hope you enjoy the next chapter Oh and seeming's how I'm gonna start this chapter a little weirdly I'm giving a preview of the last chapter =D**

**Review: I looked to Gaara- he looked hurt, but having been called a monster all his life had made it easier to bare being hurt like this.**

**But me on the other hand couldn't stand it when people screamed when he came near, I loved him too much to stand for that kind of behavior. I stood up with a new authority in my stance, drew back my hand-palm open- and slapped my mother across the face, making her eyes snap open in shock, and tears stop as the unexpected and sharp pain shot through her cheek.**

**I was surprised at how clam my voice was when I hissed**

**"You call Gaara a monster, when you're really the real monster, to hurt someone repeatedly and judging them before you get the chance to actually know them, that's what makes up a true monster." I gave a small and painful smile as I said icily "And mom, I'm sorry to say this but- you are a true monster."**

Gaara covered my mouth with a gentle hand and whispered to me,

"It's fine… just let it go…" I pulled his hand away from me but didn't continue screaming at my mother. I turned my back on my wide eyed mother who was still in complete astonishment from me slapping her. I could feel all eyes on me as I looked up at the claw like moon, and whispered to myself

"It's just not fair…." It was silent for the longest time, when Temari finally mumbled,

"C'mon, Kankuro… Gaara…. We should get going." Kankuro nodded and strode towards Temari; both looked expectantly at the stationary Gaara. "Gaara…?"

"Go without me…. I'm going back to Suna… I'll send Baki to Konoha when I get the chance." Temari looked about to bicker, but Kankuro interrupted.

"Sure… go ahead," Gaara nodded, then Temari and Kankuro nodded to each other and jumped away quickly. Everything was noiseless now, my dad looked like he had been the one to get slapped in the face as he shook his head in pure bewilderment and asked,

"Am I missing something?" We all looked at him like he had just confessed a desire to become a dress designer. After a very long moment, I sighed and said,

"Yeah. Your missing a lot." Gaara nodded vaguely in agreement, and then started to walk away; but to my vast shock, my mother stood up and grabbed the back of his shirt, pulling him back to face her. She looked just as surprised-if not more- at her actions as Gaara did. Slowly she let go of his shirt and whispered; her voice throaty as she alleged a strangled sentence,

"I… I'm sorry." In my opinion Gaara had every reason to tell her to shut up and knock her into next week, but of course he didn't. He simply watched her silently for a short time, then said in his usual flat and impassive voice,

"It's all right." It never ceased to amaze me how Gaara could act so cool and calm when he had every right to break down and let out everything that he kept cooped up inside, but he was stronger than that. He didn't like to dump his problems on others; yet he didn't mind others dumping their problems on him. Maybe this is one of the reasons I liked him so much.

Gaara started to walk away again, and I turned my head slowly to my mother, who was watching him go guiltily.

"Well…." I declared slowly and awkwardly. "Well…. That was um… unexpected." Everything was hushed; I was starting to get annoyed with silence. Finally my dad gave a small cough; declaring as he did so that he was going back to sleep. My mom agreed and went with him. I sat down and watched them settle back onto the ground and close their eyes, waiting for the elegant oblivion sleep to take over once more.

It was a while before my dad's soft snores where heard and my mom's body became more relaxed, I watched them for a while again; then remembered Gaara. I got up quietly and began to look for him. Every step I took I looked thoroughly for him; investigating everything from tree branch to bush, when finally I found him sitting on a tree stump not far from our temporary camp.

"Gaara?" I whispered, sauntering slowly over to him, hands locked behind my back. He looked up gradually and gave a small smile at me; which in return made my heart give a small flurry of affection. I wandered leisurely towards him and sat down in the little space beside him. I set my head delicately on his shoulder. We sat in quiet for a long time before Gaara asked;

"You don't think I'm a monster?" I looked up at his troubled eyes; he looked prepared to take more pain, but the expected didn't always happen.

"No… I don't…" I heard him huff out a small breath of relief that I hadn't realized he had been holding.

"But… after you saw-" I put my finger to his lips; stopping him mid sentence, saying quietly,

"Shh… don't worry about it- you don't ever have to worry about me ever hurting you." He nodded slightly, giving another heart-stopping smile. I smiled back and let my head fall back down onto his shoulder; breathing in his brilliant scent. I looked up at him carefully studying his face. His black-lined eyes were buried in his palms, his mouth curved into a small frown, and shoulders slumped slightly. This pose gave the impression that he was still deeply confused about what had happened. I put my hand on his shoulder quietly. "Gaara, everything will turn out okay sooner or later."

"And if it doesn't?" I sighed. Something was wrong and it was definitely more than just my mother calling him a monster.

"Gaara… what is wrong?" He frowned down at his feet- obviously debating on whether or not to tell me. Finally he straightened and said,

"I killed him…" My mouth gaped open in exasperation; he was feeling guilty because he had killed the guy who was trying to kill me.

"Gaara, those guys would've killed us if you hadn't stepped in. Stop worrying about it and just become the usual cheerful and happy Gaara we know!" The last sentence had just slipped out; I had used it with Naruto so much lately that it had become habit. Gaara looked at me with a nonexistent eyebrow raised, his expression was priceless; A mix between amusement and disbelief. A slow grin started to spread across my face and then a burst of laughter erupted from my lips.

"Were did that come from?" Gaara asked quietly, his lips twisted into a reluctant smile.

"Sorry; its just habit by now…" I started to laugh again, the thought of Gaara being cheery and happy was just too bizarre to take.

After a long time of laughing I managed to calm down a little bit. I sighed, the smile still parked firmly on my face as I moved from my position next to him to sitting sidesaddle on his lap- my arms wrapped around his neck and face buried in his shoulder. I gave a long sigh and closed my eyes, breathing in his soothing scent and rubbing my thumb absentmindedly across his neck.

I turned my head to see that Gaara was facing the sky, looking at the moon and stars just like I had been doing just a few minutes ago. I moved from his lap to a standing position and held out my hand to help him up.

"Gaara?" He looked away from the moon and turned to me like he had just noticed me. He grinned the priceless grin that I wish he would show more often and took my hand, but instead of just letting go after he got up, he reeled me in and hugged me tightly- whispering softly in my ear,

"This is the first time we've seen each other in months and I don't even get a kiss? How rude…" I don't know what had made him snap out of his guilty stage, but apparently something had. I smirked up at him and stood on tippy toes, greedily searching for his lips. He bent down slightly to make the process quicker.

I shivered in pleasure as his tongue parted my lips and slowly, hesitantly entered my mouth. We jumped apart suddenly when we heard a twig crack and my father fell out of a bush. I should have known that he wasn't really asleep, but what really bothered me was that every time Gaara and I seemed to be getting into our kiss we were interrupted by _something_! Now that I was able to think clearly about the fact that it was my FATHER who had interrupted the kiss I was furious,

"You were spying on us!" I hissed, stomping over to him as he got up and brushed dirt off of his pants.

"Well… I wouldn't call it spying, more like… like… supervising." I crossed my arms and loomed over him, my fury only half shown in my facial expression.

"Supervising my ass. You were _spying_!"

"No, no I swear… I didn't mean to… I mean… you know…" I cracked my knuckles menacingly and growled. He gave a false smile and shrunk back into the shadows "I'm sorry! I'll just leave and let you two… err… continue…" He stuttered and put his hands in front of his chest in a defensive pose. I sighed and just gave up. My parents were buttheads, but I just let it go, they weren't worth my time.

I watched carefully and made sure he was gone this time before turning back to Gaara, sighing heavily I mumbled,

"Might as well go back… unless you want to go to Suna by yourself?" He shook his head and walked by my side to escort me back to our make-shift camp. He didn't sleep near us; he just hid himself quietly and made himself unnoticeable. This bothered me but when I tried to protest, he just ignored me.

The next morning was interesting. My mom pitched a little fit about "A boy" Coming with us, and my dad didn't do anything about that but made me handle it. Sometimes I wondered who was the real adult in my family, me or my parents, but all in all, I decided that this trip was going to be an awkward one.

~~~~~ Time passes and they finally got to Suna ~~~~~

The rest of the trip had gone relatively smooth, all except for the fights I had gotten into with my mother. Almost everything seemed to be pissing her off lately, even when I tried to communicate calmly and maturely she would just find some way to lash out at me or my dad. It was a relief when we finally reached Suna.

Once we got to the gates, Gaara had said his good-byes and headed for his house while we separated and headed for May's and her mothers.

"Sakura! Hey, Sakura! It's been such a long time, how are you?" I blinked rapidly at the sight of my cousin. To describe her appearance in one word, I guess it would have to be dazzling. Her long light brown hair was tied up in a long and elegant pony tail that fell stylishly down to the middle of her back. She had a large smile that showed off her straight white teeth and made her large bright blue eyes shine enchantingly. Her tight and daring cloths showed off her graceful curves very well, I would never be able to wear something like that and get away with it.

Despite her obvious beauty that should make any girl vein, she was still friendly and smiling- and my best friend. "Hey, May!" I ran to her, ignoring my rising jealousy and putting on a smile of my own. We just looked at each other for a long time, and then she laughed and said in a trilling voice

"You're so dirty, c'mon inside and get washed off, I'll wash your cloths for you and let you barrow a pair of my own while yours are washing…" She kept blabbing on about what she was going to do with my hair, and about getting new cloths, introducing me to her mother's new fiancé, and help me with my supposedly dreadful fashion sense.

It was a relief when I was able to strip off my dirty and sand-caked cloths and hand them carefully to May and get in the shower that was already running and ready for my arrival.

I almost fell asleep multiple times before I stepped out and dried off. I wrapped the towel around me firmly and headed back to the room I used to share with May when we were younger. The bed was messy, but on top of the sheets were my cloths, May wasn't in the room. I looked around the area carefully for any sign of people, and then started to get dressed.

I was glad that I had taken long enough in the shower to not have to borrow some of May's bold cloths. I glanced around the room one more time and then decided that no one would miss me if I just took a small nap. I climbed slowly and stiffly into the bed, but as I crawled in I felt something hard under the sheets. I frowned and pulled it out. It was a notebook. I flipped to the first page; on it was a diary entry, from May. I shook my head and put it back down; this was May's property, not my business. But curiosity got the better of me and I read the first page. Nothing exciting. So I skipped to the next page… then the next… and finally something worth reading!

Dear diary,

today everyone who went to the Chuunin exams got back, this means the sand siblings. At first I didn't think much of this- just the monster coming back to terrorize the village again right? Wrong. Gaara has changed, and in a good way. So now I don't know exactly how I feel about him anymore….

I shook my head and skipped to the next one, this one was dated a few weeks ago.

Dear diary,

I haven't been able to write in a while, I've been so busy. I've decided that Gaara…. Is a good person. I managed to figure this out when I overheard him talking to his brother about wanting to become Kazekage of the village in replace of his father… some of the conversation I didn't understand because he was apparently talking about someone from the leaf that I have no clue who is. But what I decided after seeing him actually smile… is that I like him. And like like him, as in more than just a friend…

I was in to much shock to continue. I snapped the diary shut with a strange empty feeling in the pit of my stomach. May liked Gaara? But he was MY boyfriend. She couldn't have him! _But really…_ I thought _what are the odds of Gaara choosing me over the beautiful May? _I answered my question for me _next to nothing…_


	10. Message

Just so you know…. I've not just suddenly stopped writing my story, I have two reasons why the next chapter isn't uploaded…. Number one reason- I'm grounded lol, and the only reason I'm on the comp right now is because I'm at the library. Why am I grounded? Because I swore out my mother cause she was pissing me off and restricting me from seeing my boyfriend over the summer. Number two reason: I GOT A JOB! YUSH! So now you know, and I hope you guys aren't totally pissed off and or annoyed at me =D


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